City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – reference Z5809563. We created this privacy notice in January 2026.
CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information about you. It applies to Early help short breaks.
CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.
You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at information.governance@york.gov.uk or 01904 554145, or write to:
Data Protection OfficerCity of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA
This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant CYC privacy notices and/or policies and procedures.
When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this document.
- How we collect your information
- What personal data we process and why
- Automated decision making
- Collecting information automatically
- Childrens information
- Lawful basis for processing your personal data
- How long we keep your personal data
- Data sharing
- Data processors and or third parties
- Transfers of personal data
- How we protect your information
- Your rights in relation to this processing
How do we get your information
We get information directly from you when you take part in early help short break survey.
What personal data we process and why
As part of this survey, we will collect:
- your opinions and thoughts
- your feedback
- your child’s age
- your and your child’s support needs
- your child’s education information for example: details about learning and physical disabilities, behaviours challenges etc.
We will use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you, your family, or individuals such as:
- statistical analysis
- statutory returns
- audit framework
- see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
- help design better services
- inform funding decisions
When you take part in surveys, consultations or events and we have your consent to take photos, video or audio recordings, we will use your information in some or all of the following.
We will use these in some or all of the following:
- printed publications,
- case studies,
- council social media sites, which may include boosted posts to targeted interest groups on Facebook. You can find out more about this at Social media – City of York Council
- press releases,
- our website City of York Council website home page – City of York Council. Where relevant, our website content will be accessible internationally and may be used by other news media
It is your responsibility to let us know if you want to withdraw your consent. You can do this at any time, by contacting earlyhelpshortbreaks@york.gov.uk
If you have completed a paper survey, once you complete and return it to us, we will transfer the information you have given us onto the council’s secure network and then destroy confidentially the paper copy.
As we are using the information you give us with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting earlyhelpshortbreaks@york.gov.uk
Automated decision making
We do not carry out any automated decision making as part of this survey.
Collecting information automatically
Please see our cookies page for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website
Childrens’ information
Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.
Lawful basis for processing your personal data
Any personal data including special category data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Article 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
Article 6(1) (a) consent - the individual has given clear consent to the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
Article 9(2) (a) explicit consent - the individual has given clear consent to the council to process their special categories of personal data for a specific purpose.
Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice
Our Appropriate Policy Document – City of York Council provides further information about this processing.
How long we keep your personal data
We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.
You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the Council retention schedule – City of York Council.
Data sharing
We will only share your anonymised information where it is appropriate to, with:
- other council services
- third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
- government agencies
- internal and external auditors
In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.
We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making.
Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.
Data processors and or third parties
When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:
- Zoom Pro or Business version of Zoom (version 5) to host some public facing meetings, training sessions etc across different services in the council. Where these meetings are recorded, recordings will be kept locally on our server and will not be retained by Zoom. You can find Zoom’s privacy statement at Privacy | Zoom and their certifications at Legal Compliance | Zoom
- Microsoft Teams, to contact you, to gather information from you, or if we are recording or transcribing our discussion or meeting with you, we will let you know. You can find more details about this in theCity of York Council Microsoft Office 365 (MS365) Teams Meeting recording and transcription privacy notice.
- SurveyMonkey for surveys or consultation etc. You can find out how they use information at Privacy Notice | SurveyMonkey
- WhatsApp to contact you. You can find out how they use information at Privacy Policy - UK (whatsapp.com)
- Microsoft forms as part of MS365 You can find out how they use information at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/privacy/privacystatement
- Veritau Public Sector Limited (VPS) who provides services to the council such as internal audit Privacy policy - Veritau
- Where we provide information in British Sign Language via the City of York Council YouTube channel please read YouTube Privacy Settings and Google Privacy Policies
Transfers of personal data
We do not routinely transfer personal or special categories of personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.
How we protect your information
We are committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:
- IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
- on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
- training for all staff and elected councillors
- policies and procedures
Your rights in relation to this processing
To find out about your rights under Data Protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) For the public | ICO
You can also find information about your rights at Our Privacy Notice – City of York Council
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us at information.governance@york.gov.uk or 01904 554145, or write to the:
Data Protection OfficerCity of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA